


Silly Word, A

by lemotmo



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-09-10
Updated: 2005-09-10
Packaged: 2019-05-30 23:41:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15107216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemotmo/pseuds/lemotmo
Summary: Just an inner monologue and an 'English' lesson





	Silly Word, A

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

**A Silly Word**

**by:** Ellen 

**Character(s):** Donna  
**Pairing(s):** Josh/Donna  
**Category(s):** Romance  
**Rating:** CHILD  
**Disclaimer:** The characters belong to Aaron Sorkin, et al.  
**Summary:** Just an inner monologue and an 'English' lesson  
**Spoiler:** none  
**Written:** 04/10/04  
**Author's Note:** I was struggling with another fic when suddenly I felt compelled to write this story. I had just watched 'The Supremes' -a wonderful episode, by the way- and I don't know what possessed me, but I really like how it turned out. I apologise if there are any big errors in the reasoning of this fic. I'm no linguist and it's highly possible that I made some mistakes, but hey ... this is what I call 'the freedom of fan fiction'! 

One word. 

4 syllables. 

n-v-l-b-l i-a-u-a-e 

5 consonants and 5 vowels laced together to form one - single - word. 

A silly word really. 

'Invaluable' 

Grammatically … 

it is nothing but a mere adjective. A few letters strung together to dress up a noun, so that noun can sound bigger and better than it really is. It's used in many sentences, never really reaching its full potential. Always the aide, but never the essence of a phrase. For example: 

'An invaluable assistant.' 

Without the adjective, the noun would lose its colour and texture, yes … but it could survive perfectly without it. 

Phonetically … 

you can pronounce it really slowly. Thoroughly articulating every single letter until your tongue hurts. 

'I-N-V-A-L-U-A-B-L-E' 

Or you can just spit it out, without regard to the importance of each defining letter. 

'Ivaluble' 

And then there's repetition … over and over again you can repeat the word until it is devoid of all definition. It will have become a hollow lie. Holding nothing substantially important within the compound of its letters. 

Try it. 

Invaluable … invaluable … invaluable … invaluable … invaluable … invaluable … invaluable … invaluable … invaluable … invaluable … invaluable … invaluable … 

You see? Told you so. 

Contextual … 

it has a place in a sentence. It has a message to convey and a goal to reach. It's there for people to act upon. Depending on who you are and what you are reading, it holds different meanings. You process every letter and every word in every sentence for one purpose only, the message. For example: 

'The passing of this law is invaluable to the Bartlet-administration.' 

in contrast to 

'He told the ignorant boy that she had become invaluable to him.' 

The message in these two sentences is very clear. In both the word 'invaluable' is used, yet in a totally different capacity. They couldn't be further apart in meaning than they are in said examples. So, in the end it's all up to the interpretation of the reader and he or she will have to draw his or her personal conclusion. 

Furthermore, it's important to study the noun attached to the adjective. The noun is the source, the way to get to the message. The ultimate goal of understanding cannot be reached if the noun is ill-chosen. Therefore, it is important to choose the correct noun in the correct place. Take for example, the sentence I used before and see what happens when I replace the noun with another: 

'An invaluable assistant' 

or 

'An invaluable woman' 

Which of the two sounds better? Again, it depends from which point of view you read the phrases. 

Intonation … 

that one is tricky. So much is based on how something is said and there are so many ways of saying a word. Each way conveying another message. The word can be uttered in an outburst of passion or it can simply slip from someone's tongue without thinking. Thus, holding nothing but a simple, boring tone. Another example: 

'She's here because she's invaluable!' 

or 

'Yeah, I suppose she's an invaluable part of this administration.' 

It is difficult to base certain facts on mere 'tone'. After all, it is easy to fake a tone of unimportance, even when nothing else in the world is of a greater importance to you at that moment in time. 

~~~ 

This is of course all seen from a linguist's point of view. Well, maybe the word 'linguist' is not the right word to use. It does sound very … heavy. I mean, I did follow an English course in college. A course I had every intention of finishing, but then I kind of dropped out. It wasn't my fault though. No, blame it on guy-trouble. And besides, if you ask me? Dropping out, followed by leaving my traitorous ex-boyfriend is still one of the best things I ever did in my life. Why? Well, for lots of things. For one, it made me a part of something much bigger and more substantial than I had ever known. I went from the clueless 'I have no idea what I'm going to do with my life drop-out' to assistant to the 'Deputy Chief of Staff for the President of the United States of America'. The second title sounds a Hell of a lot better than the first one, don't you think? So yeah, that's definitely one reason why I'm happy I dropped out. 

Of course, the other reason is just as good and has absolutely nothing to do with politics or my job. No, another reason why I'm so happy that I crossed -unfortunate- paths with Dr. Freeride is because it is what led me to this day. 

You see, this isn't just any day. No, this day is the day on which some snotty college-brat decided that he just couldn't get through the day without insulting me. This glorious day on which I grinned wryly and turned away from said college-brat to only hear something that stopped me in mid-stride. It brought back memories to another word, a word that I used a long time ago … ages ago really. 

'I think you might find me valuable.' 

It was a word I didn't think I'd ever hear coming from his lips, but there it was. 

'She's here because she's invaluable!' 

I guess there's only one more side to the word I haven't discussed yet. It's got nothing to do with grammar, pronunciation, context or even intonation. No, this one is all about receiving the message and perceiving it correctly. 

Emotionally … 

never in my life have I felt more important than that decisive moment in time. There I am, standing in the corridor of the bullpen, not believing my own ears. I … yes … I, Donna Moss, am invaluable to someone. Oh, and he is 'someone' all right. I just never thought that would happen, you know? I never thought I would see the day that I'd become invaluable to -well- anyone really … least of all, him. 

But I'm here now and you know what I discovered? I don't want to wait anymore. I'm ready to do this, so let's move on already! And I know … I know that he'll think about what he said and I hope that he'll realise just what exactly the meaning of the word 'invaluable' is. Because, let's face it, he can be really dense sometimes. 

Essentially, I'm just waiting for him to understand that he basically gave us the universal sign that 'it's a GO!' I've been waiting for that sign for far too long. It's time, dammit! 

Ah, and now you want to know. Am I right? 

Oh, come on, you are just dying to ask me 'why' I'm still here, aren't you? Why I have waited so damn long for that sign? Why I was able to live with the, what I've come to call, Y-women? 

I'll tell you why. 

Because of one word that embodies everything he is and means to me. 

One word. 

4 syllables. 

n-v-l-b-l i-a-u-a-e 

5 consonants and 5 vowels laced together to form one - single - word. 

A silly word really. 

'Invaluable'

~THE END~ 


End file.
